Little flower bee

Still smarting from my dose of sunburn, I only went for a Quick 'tripette' to Iping Common with Robyn, primarily to release the large tachnid fly from my fridge. If I take insects from the wild to cool them down so I can get decent photographs, I always take great care to go back to where I found them to re-release them back into the wild.
We stayed for an hour or so (in the heat of the day) mooched round the surprisingly productive edges of the car park and wandered down to the ever diminishing pond.
Despite it being hot there were lots of species about, including 2 large and noisy Tachina grossa, another slightly smaller Tachnid fly Nowikia ferox, Emerald damselflies, Black darters and lots of these tiny little bees which are either Antrophora bimaculata or Antrophora quadrimaculata, most likley the former.
A. bimaculata is a Southern species of ground nesting bees, colonies can be large and very busy especially on hot days, and are usually found in very sandy habitats such as costal dunes and and heathland. Adullts fly from June to September, and visit a wide variety of flowers.
This is our smallest Antrophora, ( A plumipies The much larger early spring Hairy footed flower bee is probably most well knownn) but the large green eyes, frenetic flight and hight pitched buzz give it real character!
A particular favourite of mine :-)